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Catch up with all the latest news from across Kent with Kristin Hawthorne.
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00:30Save our Swanley. Sevenoaks residents gather with the Lower Trot MP to protest development on favoured field.
00:40That for having a building site behind us for up to 20 years would cause devastation to so many lives.
00:48Back to 2020, new COVID enquiry report throws up questions on pandemic handling.
00:54It was tough, these were new experiences but at the same time it just points to the sorts of leadership that you need in these situations.
01:06And rocking around the Christmas tree. As Maidstone's lights turn on, we ask shoppers in the county about stepping into the festive season.
01:14Hello and welcome to KMTV. I'm Kristen Hawthorne and this is Friday the 21st of November.
01:32Of course you heard our headlines, so our top story tonight is there are plans to build 17,000 homes in Kent's leafiest district and they've been met with vocal opposition in Swanley.
01:44Residents have gathered in Archer Way playing field to demonstrate against Sevenoaks Council's proposals, which the authority have said are essential to meeting the government's housing targets.
01:53But what impact could the development have in Swanley? Megan Shaw has been finding out.
02:00A cold afternoon in Swanley, yet campaigners were hot under the collar to protest against proposals developing more than a thousand houses on former Greenbelt land.
02:12Swathes of farmland and grassland under the government's new planning policy framework can now be classed as greybelt land in an attempt to boost housing delivery.
02:24But Swanley residents, who see this green space as vital for their community, are fighting back.
02:30I'm so lucky to see the sun rises from my bedroom window, almost every morning having to get up early with my child.
02:36To lose this field would mean to lose part of us, part of our family, part of identity.
02:42My dog recently passed away and we would take her for walks over there every day.
02:48So we call it honey's field. And not only that, but having a building site behind us for up to 20 years would cause devastation to so many lives and to the community.
02:59If you couldn't already see behind me, they're actually harvesting.
03:02So this land is arable land and things like coriander and spring onions are grown here and they're distributed to supermarkets up and down the UK.
03:10Losing this land, of course, would mean losing these crops.
03:13The campaign has even garnered the attention of Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott, who visited the gathering to bestow support.
03:21Do everything I can to fight with you and I am so sorry that this is happening to you. So thank you.
03:25But as Sevenoaks does not have a local plan in place until 2027, it has less control over when and where development takes place.
03:36So we had a local plan and submitted a local plan previously, which unfortunately the government's planning inspector refused, which is why we're having to redo the local plan.
03:44But we would have had to have redone the local plan anyway because the government has significantly increased the housing targets from 10,000 to 17,000.
03:52For those protesting the development, they feel that these don't have the best interests of Swanly at heart.
03:59There is a shortage of housing, but unfortunately the housing that's built is not affordable.
04:08When they talk about affordability, they talk about 80% of market rents.
04:15And I'm afraid that's not affordable.
04:20We contacted Sevenoaks District Council for comment and they explained the necessity to increase development under the government's updated national planning policy framework.
04:30They also explained they will continue to protect the overwhelming majority of the greenbelt and that affordable housing will be part of the new infrastructure.
04:39But as the consultation period draws to a close, will campaigners like Danielle be able to harvest the fruits of their labour?
04:48Megan Shaw for Kame TV in Swanly.
04:51Next, with the launch of the latest COVID inquiry report, residents in Kent have been reflecting on the scale of the pandemic, which brought the world to a standstill five years ago.
05:02More than four and a half thousand people died from coronavirus related illnesses and the latest rounds of the COVID inquiry have revealed several reports on the government's slow decision making during this time.
05:14It's led to people in the county asking themselves whether the scale of loss could have been avoided.
05:19Our reporter Chloe Brewster headed to Swale, which had the highest infection rate in the county during the pandemic to find out more.
05:27COVID. It's a word that many of us would rather leave in the past.
05:32But the second official report from the COVID public inquiry was released this week, containing damning reflections on the free lockdowns that threw all of our lives into turmoil.
05:41It depicts a toxic and chaotic downing street where decision making was unclear, ill-informed and too late.
05:49Swale was one of the areas in Kent with the highest COVID infection rate.
05:53Residents in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey told me their experiences looking back at the pandemic.
05:59My wife and me, we've been for the whole lockdown time at home without money before food.
06:09Fortunately for me, my parents were okay. They didn't catch it or anything like that.
06:14But yeah, I know it's a sad situation, but for me, it didn't really, it's hard to say it didn't affect me.
06:23Obviously you see the news and that affects you, but work-wise it didn't affect me.
06:27They knew it was coming, but the vaccinations were too far away.
06:31Well, I think it was an unknown, completely unknown from our generation anyway.
06:38The inquiry criticised the toxic and chaotic culture inside Downing Street, calling the decision to go into lockdown too little, too late.
06:46I mean, it really speaks how important it is to be very clear with the public that we don't sugarcoat things.
06:52We're not over-optimistic. It's not about giving people hope or not hope.
06:57It's about giving people really, really clear guidance.
07:00I mean, it's shocking that there could have been 23,000 people's lives saved.
07:04These were new experiences, but at the same time it just points to the sorts of leadership that you need in these situations.
07:11KMTV's resident health expert, Dr Julian Spinks, weighed in.
07:16There'd be no preparation for this. We hadn't had lockdowns before. Nobody knew what to do.
07:20And the effect was it impacted children who, because we closed schools,
07:25and people who are vulnerable who didn't have the ability to go out and get their one hour's exercise
07:30or needed to have food delivered by friends or all those sort of things.
07:34Plus, missing the companionship if you're elderly and lonely and you're not allowed to meet with anybody.
07:41That has a big impact.
07:43This month marks five years since we entered the second lockdown.
07:46And as society moves on from the strangest time in many of our lifetimes,
07:50the government now must look back and learn.
07:53Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Sheerness.
07:56Now, a family in Holling is holding a moonlight walk in memory of their daughter,
08:02who passed away from a rare brain tumour.
08:04Sophia Leigh Brunn-Healy was just seven years old when she passed away at her home in March.
08:10The family set up Bluebell Circle CIC to raise money for a memorial down by the river Sophia used to play along,
08:17and are encouraging the community to take part. Sophia's mum, Alice, joins us now.
08:22So, Alice, thank you so much for joining us this evening.
08:26Can you first of all start off by telling us a bit more about yourself and your group?
08:31Our group was unfortunately set up after my daughter passed away, as you said, in March.
08:37And it started as a group of mums and dads who really wanted to support myself and my husband, Rob,
08:44and wanted to do something for Sophia.
08:47And once kind of a few months had gone past, we decided that actually we wanted to do something for Sophia,
08:53but we also really wanted to do something for this fantastic community here in Holling.
08:58And our two-phase project, putting up a throne chair by the river, firstly,
09:05with carved animals that Sophia absolutely adored and loved, and a tablet on the back with nine pictures from Holling Primary School,
09:15a competition we're running there, student pictures.
09:18And our second phase is to regenerate the area, and that's going to happen in kind of 2027, 2028.
09:26So it's a two-phase project. It's in memory of our fantastic, beautiful, brilliant daughter.
09:32And we're bringing the community together, which we think is actually really important
09:38and what we need right now around us and around each other.
09:41Of course. And I'm sure it would be something that Sophia would be so pleased to see that you're doing.
09:45Can you tell me a bit about her?
09:47Sophia was kooky. She was intelligent. She was special. And above all, she was brave.
09:55And that being asked about what she was like is probably the toughest question I can be asked because she was amazing.
10:03And of course, we miss her terribly. And today would have been her eighth birthday.
10:08And wherever she is, we are thinking about her and have been all day.
10:13And for those viewers at home as well, who may be impacted, may be seeing this and thinking,
10:18what an incredible thing that you're doing, obviously, for her memory, how can they get involved?
10:24They can get involved in different ways. They can go online to our JustGiving on the Bluebell Circle,
10:30so www.thebluebellcircle.org, and they can donate. If you just want to simply donate, that's fantastic.
10:37If you're a business and you want to support us in some way or other, reach out on our contact form or just come along to one of our events.
10:45Tomorrow night, we're walking for loved ones who are lost and remembered.
10:50And if you would like to come along, it's £6 an adult. Our children are free to come along to the community centre in Hauling.
10:57Walk with us together along the river and remember your loved ones.
11:03And have you had any, I mean, have anybody gotten contact with you about how this kind of fundraiser and how the work that you're doing has helped them?
11:10Do you know what? Even today, we were putting the butterflies out along the riverside in Hauling and several people stopped to talk about their own grief, their stories of grief.
11:21So that helps us a lot as parents, but it also, we feel, has brought the community together.
11:27So we've had a lot of people reach out to support us because losing a child is really challenging.
11:34And we're really leaning in on that and hopeful that, you know, that supports others as well as us.
11:41Excellent. Well, I wish you the best of luck for that and certainly let us know what it turns out like and we can maybe follow up.
11:48Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. We'll be back after this short break.
14:48Hello and welcome back to Kent Tonight Live on KMTV.
15:16Now, a bomb hoaxer who threatened to blow up Sittingbourne Police Station and shoot officers has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
15:25Wade Grant got into a late night standoff with police in December after he went to Central Avenue and made several threats to staff over the phone, including claiming he was armed with a gun and a bomb.
15:38Seven officers had to be evacuated from the building as armed police search dogs and a helicopter were deployed.
15:45The judge said Grant had an overwrought state of mind as he handed in the sentence during a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court.
15:53Next, the Home Office have confirmed that a disused prison in Gowdhurst will not be used to seek to house asylum seekers.
16:02Reports on social media claimed that the former Blandtara House open prison was about to be used to house 600 asylum seekers, despite the prison only having accommodation for 120 inmates when it was operative.
16:17Following enquiries from Kent Online, the Home Office have quashed the rumours.
16:21A spokesperson said they do not nor will not have plans to use the site for that reason.
16:27It closed in January 2016 for refurbishment work and will never be reopened.
16:34And next, a family from Faversham have stipulated their children out of school so they can travel the world.
16:42James Liberty car crew say the UK's stressful daily routine was limiting their children's progress, so they are now homeschooling them on the go.
16:52The families visited countries like Kenya, Malaysia and Mauritius, which they say has allowed their sons to learn life, to learn through real life experiences.
17:00James and Liberty spoke with us earlier today.
17:04When we were in the UK, it just felt like we were just living to work. Now it feels like we are just living.
17:10Our whole work, life balancing our family dynamic, it just completely changed for the better.
17:16And we thought actually showing the children the world was the best way to do that because we felt like they weren't getting that experience from school.
17:26In traditional primary school in the UK, there's so much sitting.
17:30Just naturally from the way that the system is, it's through no fault, it's nobody's fault, but it's just that's the way it is.
17:37A lot of learning has to be evidenced in books and written and actually we're trying to move away from that and not have to be writing everything all the time.
17:45We're kind of combining our skills that we have to launch our own world schooling platform.
17:53It's something that's come up numerous times when we've been speaking to other families.
17:59And of course now it's Jude Moulton with the latest sports.
18:03First up in the world of cricket and the long wait is finally over.
18:17The eagerly awaited Ashes series started in the early hours of the morning with England laying down the gauntlet against Australia on day one in Perth.
18:25However, it wasn't such an auspicious start for opening batsman and Kent cricket's own Zach Crawley, whose campaign began with a duck after facing just six balls.
18:37And the tourists were only over the Troll Cup 172 runs in a little more than 30 overs.
18:43However, England's bowlers gave a masterclass with the ball and scuttled the Aussies at only 123 runs for nine at closer play.
18:53Crawley will hope to perform better when England no doubt head out for their second inning at 20 past two tomorrow morning.
19:01It's into the football news now and a return to fitness for club captain Armani Little has provided the Jules with a boost ahead of the League 2 fixture against Barnett on Saturday.
19:11The defensive midfielder has been sidelined for the last two matches and hasn't played a League game since early September.
19:18The gaffer Gareth Ainsworth has said Armani's definitely fit to play and that the side could do with him being the engine in the middle of the park.
19:26Who also could be back in the starting line-up is striker Seb Palmer Holden. He's back from injury and being photographed in training.
19:33Also, Elliot Nevitt is back after missing the Crawley game with a one-match ban after accumulating five yellow cards.
19:42And finally, it will be a duel in the desert as Magestone Sam Noakes takes on undefeated Abdullah Mason in the WBO-like world title fight in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
19:55If Noakes wins in Riyadh, he will become Magestone's first ever world boxing champion and at only 28 years old, he has many more opportunities to add belts to his resume.
20:06In an interview, the former West Street amateur said he's ready and raring to go.
20:11The ring bell will go off at eight in the evening on Saturday.
20:24And as always, Fridays on KMTV are the home of the Kent politics show.
20:29This week, Rob Bailey was joined by Green Kent County Councillor Stuart Heaver and Romy Lamas of Reform UK.
20:36They discussed Labour's new plans to stop asylum seekers from travelling across the English Channel in small boats and arriving on Kent's coasts.
20:45But here's a clip from the show, but you can watch the full episode at KMTV.co.uk.
20:49Welcome to the Kent politics show on KMTV. I'm Rob Bailey.
20:57And this week, Labour unveiled its new plan to stop the boats arriving on Kent's coast.
21:02Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood wants to make the UK less attractive to illegal migrants.
21:07She'll deport people whose asylum claims fail. Those given leave to stay will have their status reviewed more regularly and will receive less financial support.
21:15But her plans, which could see children forced out of the country, have been described as performative cruelty by opponents.
21:22Here's the Home Secretary and Folkestone and Hyde MP Tony Vaughan this week.
21:26And is reflected in the work of charities like Napier Friends and my constituency who support those staying at Napier Barracks.
21:32My question is about the appeal reforms in relation to professionally trained adjudicators.
21:36What is the rationale for this when we already have a specialist judiciary with expertise to decide these cases?
21:42And what is it about the adjudicator model that will mean they are in a better position to decide these cases and under the current system?
21:48Here with me is Robbie Lammas, the Deputy Leader of Reform in Medway.
21:52And Stuart Heaver, who represents Whitstable at Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council.
21:57Thanks very much for joining me.
21:59Robbie, Labour's announced this policy.
22:00It's been condemned by an awful lot of people.
22:02But there must be elements of this policy that you approve of, surely.
22:05I mean, if there ever was an award given to a politician for what they call the rhetoric gap.
22:09The difference between the presentation and the substance of the policy.
22:13I think Mahmood deserves the Academy Award.
22:16I really, really do.
22:17The problem with the proposals is actually an amnesty through the back door.
22:21What she's proposing as part of her package of measures and reforms is two things.
22:26One, a work and study route available to asylum seekers.
22:31So in a sense that will reclassify those waiting for permission to stay and give them permission to work.
22:36So essentially she's just going to say, it doesn't matter about the processes we have.
22:40We're going to set up an alternative form of economic immigration.
22:43And we just have them all in permanently.
22:45Reform would send asylum seekers who are fouled back home and anyone who crossed the channel illegally back home.
22:51No ifs, no buts.
22:53The second thing that she said was that, and I give her credit,
22:56that the problem is with the European Convention of Human Rights, the ECHR,
23:01which is controlled by a court in Europe.
23:04And only reform will leave the ECHR.
23:07And therein lies the problem for Labour.
23:09They won't be able to actually deliver any meaningful change and deport anyone
23:12because they'll still be blocked by the courts.
23:14And of course, you can watch that full episode on our website, chemtv.co.uk.
23:21But now, it's been very cold today.
23:23So let's take a look at the weather forecast.
23:25Now it's looking rather cold tonight with an average temperature of four degrees with a clear night across Kent.
23:36Tomorrow morning, there will be mostly cloudy skies across the county with an average temperature of six degrees.
23:44And then tomorrow evening, we will have seven across the board.
23:47Slight touch of rain across the county as well, wind speeds of 16 and 20 miles per hour.
23:52Sunday, we've got 10 degrees, rainy skies.
23:54Monday, partly cloudy skies, eight degrees.
23:56And the same on Tuesday.
23:58So looks at starting next week, it'll be a little bit less rainy.
24:06Now, Christmas lights are well and truly underway here in Kent.
24:12And if you've been out in Rochester like I have been today, you'll see that for sure.
24:16Last night, Maidstone switched on their Christmas lights in what our colleagues over at KMFM called
24:21the best and biggest lights event in the county.
24:24But with other Christmas traditions, what are residents getting up to?
24:28Our reporter, Neela Mohammed, has more on this and joins me now.
24:33So what are Kent's favourite Christmas traditions?
24:36So we went out to Rochester High Street hoping to catch some shoppers mid-Christmas shopping.
24:41And Christmas traditions very much centre around the sense of family and community
24:45and kind of making sure everyone has the similar kind of experience over Christmas.
24:49Very much is a case of giving back to the community, but particularly giving back to the younger generation.
24:54We spoke to this one man who just became a new father again and said that for him traditions are null and void.
25:00He's not really interested in them, but he keeps them up for the sake of his younger children.
25:04What I found really interesting and expected is that almost every single one of them said
25:08absolutely no Christmas music, no Christmas films, nothing like that before December.
25:13But of course, we've seen all these lovely pictures that are on screen now
25:16and we've got a picture in between us as well.
25:18This is what happened over in Maidstone.
25:20So clearly they don't agree with that.
25:22They think that the light should be switched on earlier.
25:25What effect can this have for the Maidstone community?
25:28Well, as we can see, there's like over a thousand people at this switch on event.
25:32But in terms of the impact that it has, it doesn't just celebrate the community,
25:36how great the community is, but it has a huge economic impact as well.
25:40I mean, it's a huge traction in terms of the increase in retail sales,
25:45but also footfall to high streets that might otherwise be empty.
25:49I mean, the CACI, or this information technology company,
25:53saw specifically with regards to food and beverage sales,
25:56that on event day spend in this category increased by 29%
26:01compared to the same day the week before.
26:04Excellent. And just quickly, can you tell us about what other festive events
26:07are happening around Kent?
26:09So if you missed the one in Maidstone last night,
26:11and if you're a huge fan of Charles Dickens,
26:13you will know that he has a really strong connection to Kent.
26:16And every year you have the Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival,
26:22which is full of Victorian era style Christmas markets,
26:26parades, costumes, entertainment.
26:29If that's not your sort of thing,
26:30and you're a bit of a Scrooge about celebrating before December,
26:33then you do have light switch ons as well,
26:35which is more festive, less Christmassy.
26:37Leeds Castle has one tomorrow night,
26:40and then next Friday as well,
26:41there'll be one at the Hive Wildfire Farm.
26:43Fabulous. Well, if you've missed that event,
26:45then there's plenty more to see.
26:47Thank you so much for watching. Bye-bye.
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